Nika Award Posthumously Honors Madyanov and Dobrovolskaya at Moscow’s Mask Theater

At the Nika Award ceremony held at the Mask Theater in Moscow, veteran figures of Russian cinema and theatre, Roman Madyanov and Evgenia Dobrovolskaya, were honored posthumously. The Nika, Russia’s premier prize for cinema, recognizes outstanding achievements in acting, directing, and production, and this year it underscored the enduring influence of performers whose careers spanned decades. The gathering brought together colleagues, friends, and admirers who paused to celebrate the legacy these two artists left on the Russian stage and screen. Both performers had passed away in recent years, and their families accepted the statuettes on their behalf. It was a moment that combined gratitude with a quiet sense of loss, a reminder that art outlasts a single lifetime. The ceremony at the Mask Theater, a historic venue in Moscow, provided a fitting backdrop for reflections on the actors’ wide bodies of work and the characters they inhabited with honesty, humor, and courage. This year’s awards highlighted the links between theatre and cinema and the way a single performance can resonate across generations. — official statements.